Reports: 'Kingdoms of Amalur' studios lay off staff

38 Studios, led by Curt Schilling, and Big Huge Games appear to be shutting down with their respective staffs being laid off, according to various reports across the video game blogsphere.

As sites such as The Verge and Joystiq posted the news, notes of support to the employees spread on Facebook and Twitter, where #38Jobs became a Top 10 trending topic for awhile. Unfortunately, it was quickly infiltrated by unscrupulous tweeters. Also up and running is a Facebook page #38 Jobs.

Summing up the waves of responses and notices about jobs, was ‏@Lady_Saga, who said, "I *really* hope critics of the gaming industry take note of how studios are offering help with #38jobs What other industry does this?"

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About Mike Snider

Mike Snider began covering the video game industry during the Super Nintendo-Sega Genesis clash in 1992. An original pinball wizard, he eventually was seduced by Robotron: 2084 and Tempest. These days he is a fan of action/shooters and lives out his Keith Moon fantasies playing a mean drum kit on music games. More about Mike.

About Brett Molina

Brett Molina has been writing about video games for USA TODAY since 2005. He is well-versed in Madden NFL, the fighting genre and first-person shooters. The first video game he played was Asteroids at a local arcade. He has been hooked ever since. More about Brett.